


Ship in a Bottle

by FiresofAnarchy



Category: Dark Matter (TV)
Genre: Character Death, Drug Addiction, Family Feels, Friendship, Future Fic, Hurt/Comfort, Importance of Names, Intimidation, Karaoke, Manipulation, Multi, One Shot, One Shot Collection, Protectiveness, Resetting An AI, Self-Harm, Underage Drinking, alternate universe character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-09
Updated: 2017-08-17
Packaged: 2018-09-15 23:56:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 22,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9264749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FiresofAnarchy/pseuds/FiresofAnarchy
Summary: A collection of one shots featuring various characters from Dark Matter.





	1. What's In a Name

**Author's Note:**

> The first eleven chapters of this have been over on Fanfiction.net for a while but I thought it was about time I got my largest work transferred over here. This first chapter was written during the hiatus between seasons 1 and 2 and is my alternate take on the conversation Five and Two have in episode 2 with some dialogue pulled right from the episode.

Two sat in the cargo bay trying to get her breathing under control but she just couldn't calm down. She had lost control and mentally cursed herself for being a terrible leader, leaders weren't supposed to let their emotions and personal feelings get in the way of their leadership. It had been the android and of course Two knew that she shouldn't have gotten as angry as she did, she was just stating what she viewed as the facts after all, but still the sudden flash of anger had jolted through her and it was all she could do not to punch the wall right then and there.

It had all started when the android had initially pulled up the files that revealed that the crew were the infamous mercenaries of the Raza sent to the mining colony to kill all of the innocent people that called it home by a bunch of suits who were too cowardly to get their hands dirty. That had immediately left a bad taste in her mouth and a sick feeling in her stomach. She had still managed to maintain an outward appearance of calm and remained an active part of the conversation that followed.

"No one's killing anyone," she had said in an agitated tone when One and Three had started having one of their spats over the situation.

She stood listening only mildly interested in the conversation that followed, too distracted by the picture of herself staring back at her and the strange feeling welling up inside of her that was becoming more and more intense by the minute. Four spoke up and she found herself turning around with everyone else interested to see what the man of few words had to say. He said something to the effect of "it doesn't matter" and she found herself silently agreeing. The others slowly filed off of the bridge after that but she found herself rooted to her previous position, unable to move and still staring at the picture of herself unsure of what to think.

"Portia," she had called her as if that name was supposed to mean anything to her.

"Don't call me that," she ground out and then proceeded to make it clear to the android that she wanted to be referred to as Two making a swift exit afterwards.

She had contemplated going back to her room to think but quickly thought better of it, people would look for her there and she didn't really want to be around the others right now. She figured that the cargo bay would be most likely empty and provide her with the time to herself that she desperately needed in order to sort her thoughts out.

She wasn't sure how much time she had spent just looking at her hands wondering how many people those hands had killed, wondering if she had enjoyed watching the life drain out of those people's eyes as they took their last breaths. She decided that she didn't really want to know the answer, it was making her sick just thinking about it.

She felt the presence of another person standing over her and immediately felt nervous about one of the other crew members finding her in such a state. One would probably try to get all touchy feely about it and she wasn't really in the mood for that right now and if it was Three who found her down here she wasn't in the mood to deal with his distant and unfeeling tone right now either. She looked up hesitantly trying to work her features back into a more professional look but quickly softened again when she saw that it was Five looking down at her with a concerned look on her face.

"Hey," she said nervously as she felt the Raza's youngest crewmember look her over.

"Hey," the young girl said back. "I just wanted to tell you that I took another look at that console on the bridge but it's fried until we can get some new parts."

"That's ok," Two said in a comforting tone. "You did your best, that's all that counts."

"Are you ok," Five asked her with a knowing look in her eyes.

"Just thinking about some things," Two said vaguely.

"Like what," Five said as she sat down cross legged in front of where Two was.

"It's just, I don't know," Two found herself saying. "That woman in the picture is me but she isn't me at the same time, you know."

"Yeah," Five said.

"I just don't know what I'm supposed to do with that," Two said after a short silence.

"Would you want to go back to not knowing if you could," Five asked.

"No," Two admitted. "Not knowing would just make me want to know again and then we'd be right back here."

"Then you should just be you," Five said. "And if this Portia isn't who you want to be then you shouldn't feel obligated to be her."

"You make it sound so easy," Two said.

"It is easy," Five said. "If the information we have on Portia is true then she would have just let those miners die down there, probably even killed them herself, but it's like Four said, none of what we did in the past matters; we're different people now and you shouldn't feel tied down by a past that you don't even remember."

"Maybe getting our memories wiped was a blessing in disguise," Two said with the hint of a smile on her face.

"Maybe," Five said. "We need to talk about that too."

"About our memories," Two said questioningly. "It was an accident, nothing we can do about it now."

"No it wasn't," Five said. "Someone stole them and we need to find out who."

"Why do you think that," Two said.

"I don't think, I know," Five said.

"How do you know then," Two said.

"I remember," Five said. "Uploading the program into the stasis core and venting the virus while everyone else was asleep, but not me; it's like I'm remembering it for someone else."

"Why would someone do that," Two asked.

"Because we're dangerous," Five said ominously. "Whoever it was that did it though, they aren't that person anymore either.

"I know," Two said.

"What are we going to do about it," Five asked

"I don't know but we'll deal with that after we help these miners ok," Two said as she moved to get up.

"Ok," Five said.

"Thank you," Two said.

"For what," Five said.

"For talking some sense into me," Two said.

"That's what friends are for," Five said.

Another smile crept onto Two's face at that. She turned to leave and go talk to One knowing that she was going to do this her way. She may have Portia Lin's face but she wasn't Portia Lin and she was going to prove that by helping these miners in any way she could.


	2. Traitor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was also written during the hiatus between seasons 1 and 2 when I still had harsh feelings towards Six.

Punch.

Six continued to wonder how long this would go on as he had from the start.

Punch.

He figured that he deserved it at least in some small way.

Punch.

After all, betraying the only friends you have and expecting no consequences is a naïve point of view.

Punch.

He checked his restraints again; they still held his wrists and ankles firmly to the chair.

Punch.

He should have known that they'd come for him after they got out.

Punch.

He should have known that no prison could hold them.

Punch.

He should have known that one person in particular would be out for blood.

Punch.

He felt himself slowly losing consciousness. Good, he thought; at least that way the pain would stop.

"That's enough," he heard Two say. Strange; she hadn't been there before.

"I was just getting started," he heard Four say through gritted teeth.

"We need him alive," Two said cautiously.

"For what," Four said only allowing his anger to show slightly; he supposed that he should count it as an accomplishment that he was finally able to get through that tough exterior.

"He'll just betray us again when he gets the chance," Four continued. "Is that what you want?"

"Of course not," Two said. "But he could be useful, as a prisoner, as a source of information; think about it."

"Fine," Four said reluctantly before turning towards the chair and figure he had just been baring down on.

"Drawn and quartered," he whispered into Six's ear once he got close enough. "That's what happened to traitors in the Middle Ages."

He turned and walked out of the still dimly lit room.

"How could you do this," Two said looking down at the ground. "We trusted you."

He didn't have an answer for her, not one that she would accept anyways.

"If you're going to kill me just get it over with," he bit out; he was done with the whole situation.

"How could you do this," she asked again unnecessarily, shaking her head.

What did she want from him?

"You wouldn't understand," he said bitterly.

"You're right," she said looking up to meet his eyes. "I wouldn't."

"I could have done it too you know," she continued. "Betrayed the rest of you for my own personal gain; Ferrous Corp offered to let me go with no penalty if I left the mining colony and the crew on the planet to be dealt with how they saw fit, but I didn't."

"Could have avoided all of this if you had just taken their deal," he said in an attempt to rattle her. She punched him herself and he suddenly missed Four.

"Don't you dare try to pin this on anyone else," she practically spat at him. "This is all on you."

"You allowed your own selfishness to get in the way of your crew, your family," she said the last word very quiet and quickly looked down again.

"The galaxy isn't a fair place and if you aren't looking out for yourself then you're just waiting to be taken by surprise and stabbed in the back," he said. "This should teach you something about trusting blindly."

"I just hope you know what you lost here," she said before turning and leaving.

He had to admit to himself that her words had some weight but they were also very, very misguided and ill-used on him. He allowed himself a moment to catch his breath as it seemed that the immediate altercations were over.

"She meant all of that you know," he heard the unmistakable voice of Five say from somewhere behind him. He wasn't ready for this.

"Wasted breath at this point," he said. "My course is already set."

"So it is," she said faintly. "That doesn't mean that you can't take slight deviations."

"Not much room for atonement in what I did," he said. "Slight deviations won't make much of a difference now."

"A shame that you actually believe that," she said. "Lives are changed, worlds discovered, wars won and lost all because of the slight deviations that each individual takes off of the course that they find themselves on."

"You, the old you anyways, voted to get me, the old me, out of a prison," she continued. "This new you almost single handedly put me in one."

"What do you want from me," he said unsure of how to take all of what she had just said.

"Nothing," she said. "You already gave me everything by casting that vote back then and giving me a chance at this new life; it's a shame that you continue to waste your chance though."

"I don't blame you," she said walking in to view for the first time. "You did what you thought you had to do and maybe somewhere deep down when left to their own devices any member of this crew would have done the same thing."

"Two didn't," he said alluding to his earlier conversation.

"No she didn't," she said. "And maybe it would help you understand what I'm telling you better if you thought about the reasons she would have had not to."  
She turned and walked out of the room.

The door didn't open again for a long time after that and when it did it was only Four that returned.

Four walked in with a blank expression on his face; he had his sword this time.

"Don't worry," Four said in a neutral tone. "I'm not going to kill you; no, that would be too easy."

"This is just an insurance policy," he continued with an almost daring look in his eyes. "In case you try to run."

"The rest of them are currently debating what to do with you but I already made my opinion pretty clear," Four continued on his eyes never leaving Six's.

Punch.

He should have known what he was coming back for.

Punch.

Four was simple.

Punch.

Four was angry.

Punch.

And Four just wanted to turn him into his new punching bag.

Punch.

There were no confused emotions with Four aside from the obvious.

Punch.

There were no philosophical debates with Four.

Punch.

There was no regret with Four.

Punch.

Just anger over allowing himself to be caught.

Punch.

Four was simple.

Punch.

And for that he was grateful.

Punch.

He welcomed unconsciousness like an old friend seeing as he didn't have many left in the conscious world.


	3. Residual

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this chapter after season 2 episode 3 as a sort of aftermath for what Five had to go through in that episode. Also, since it was in my notes on the original post Two/Portia talking about linking herself with the ship is still the sexiest thing I've heard on this show so far.

Two was worried and walking onto the bridge to only find Three and the Android did not help to squelch any of her worry, if anything it only heightened her concern.

"Boss lady," Three said almost immediately. "Anything we can help you with."

"Have you seen Five," Two hoped her voice didn't let too much of her worry show.

"The kid," Three said slightly shocked. "Haven't seen her since she came to my cabin last night, after the whole thing was over."

"Have you checked the vents," the Android asked. "Or perhaps she could be located in the cargo hold."

"I can't be 100 % sure about the vents since I can't actually go in but she isn't in the cargo hold," Two replied.

"She'll turn up," Three said confidently. "She's probably just taking a victory lap or something; after all she did save our asses twice."

"You're probably right," Two said trying to sound assured but not really feeling it.

She had been searching for the Raza's youngest crew member for over an hour now and had checked most of the ship's populated areas. The Raza wasn't a big ship so unless Five decided to take a space walk she had to turn up somewhere, Two just wasn't sure where that would be. She passed by the training room where Four was doing his usual meditations with his sword and nearly knocked Nyx to the ground when she continued down the hall not watching where she was going.

"I know we all just got out of prison, but I usually like getting to know someone first before I let them have their way with me in the hallway," Nyx said in a tone that Two couldn't tell was supposed to be joking or not.

She must have zoned out pondering this question because before she knew it the other woman was snapping her fingers in her face trying to get her attention, "What had you so distracted anyways."

"It's Five," she said schooling her tone into one of neutrality. "You seen her anywhere."

"Crazy hair," Nyx said. "She's back in the hallway by the brig doing, something."

Without a second thought Two moved past the other woman and continued towards the brig.

"Bye then," she vaguely heard Nyx say as she rounded a corner.

As she entered the hallway there stood Five running her fingers along some of the bullet holes in the walls.

"Hey," she said as she continued her way closer to the end of the hall where Five was.

She was confused when instead of turning around to answer her Five tensed up at the sound of her voice. And when the younger girl finally turned around to face her there was something in her eyes that Two had never expected to see in regards to herself, fear.

"Something wrong," she asked cautiously.

"It's nothing," Five said quickly as she moved her gaze to the floor.

"Really," Two said raising an eyebrow. "Because it doesn't seem like nothing."

"It's stupid," Five said keeping her eyes locked on the floor.

"Nothing that bothers you is stupid," Two said in a comforting tone. "So out with it."

"It's just that for a second there I didn't see you, I saw her, Portia," Five said with a sigh. "Even though I knew it wasn't I couldn't help it."

"And then all of the stuff that happened yesterday came flooding back," she continued. "I thought I lost you guys."

Two moved to pull the younger girl into a hug.

"Hey," she said in a whisper. "That's nothing to be ashamed of; you were amazing yesterday, especially considering the circumstances."

Five smiled at this as Two continued, "And back at the prison, we could have never gotten out of there without you."

Five's smile was growing bigger with each word.

"Thank you for bringing us back," Two added after a short pause. "I'm proud of you."

Five was beaming at this point having received such high praise.

"You know you have nothing to fear from me right," Two said as she pulled away.

"Of course I do," Five said. "Portia was just."

"A bitch," Two said after a few moments of Five not being able to find an apt description.

"You could say that," Five said still smiling.

"Let's hope she never comes out to play again," Two said as she turned to leave. "Come on now, I think you more than anyone have earned a break from everything."

The smile that had found its way onto Five's face remained there for the rest of the day. The crew of the Raza may not be perfect, but family rarely ever is and she was now more sure than ever that that was what they were. Thinking about this brought thoughts of One and Six back to her mind; she wished that they were still around to see what they had all become.

For Two as she looked around at her assembled crew both new and old her mind also shifted back to One and Six and the old days where everything seemed so simple and carefree. Back then they had to worry about working together without tearing each other's heads off, something that now seemed so small and easy compared to the titan-like forces they were going up against now. In it all she was certain of one thing; nothing was going to tear this crew apart as long as she was still breathing.

"Here kid take this," she heard Three say pulling her out of her thoughts. "You've earned it."

She turned to see Three sliding one of his guns across the table towards Five, she's pretty sure this is the one he calls Bubba.

She couldn't help the smile that spread across her face, she was going to have a talk with Three later about encouraging Five to get herself into dangerous situations but that could wait. For right now she was content with the knowledge that her little dysfunctional family was going to be just fine whatever came to try and break it up.


	4. Skills of the Trade

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this chapter after season 2 episode 4 after being inspired by the line where Three says he was being a bad influence of Five. I was listening to Wake Me Up When September Ends by Green Day while writing this.

She stood at the edge of the crowd watching, waiting. Her target appeared out of a backroom on the other side of the bar; he was some high up business man with connections to several very profitable corporations. She grabbed her drink from a nearby table and downed it in one go before sauntering over in his direction.

She checked to see if her pistol was still securely attached to the inside of her thigh, the tight-fitting t-shirt and skirt she had on weren't exactly made for practicality or combat but they certainly got people's attention. She didn't want to have to resort to using her weapon, but it never hurt to be prepared for every possibility. It was small and made specifically for stealth so it wouldn't do much in a real fight but she had other ways of dealing with something like that; she checked the blades she had hidden up her sleeves.

"Hey," she said as she approached him, her tone seductive. "You're Cade Vandal aren't you."

"Yes I am," he said smiling. "A fan of my work?"

"Of course," she said. "That deal you worked out with TitanCorp on Garren Prime was particularly impressive."

"Well it's always nice to meet a fan, but I really should be going" he said. "Miss?" He stuck out his hand for her to shake.

"Emily Kolburn," she said taking his hand.

"You know," she said leaning in to whisper seductively in his ear as they were still shaking hands. "We could get out of here together and I could show you how much of a fan I really am."

He cleared his throat nervously, "Yes, I'm sure we could work something out."

People, especially corporate types like Cade Vandal, were easily to manipulate, it wasn't always sex but everyone was always looking for something and if you knew how to use that to your advantage you could get them to say or do anything you wanted. It was a two way street of course, people were trying to manipulate you as much as you were trying to manipulate them; it was a game you had to play in this world and it was a game she played better than almost anyone.

As Cade Vandal led her down several corridors in the direction of what she assumed was his room she carefully planned her next move. He didn't appear to have any armor or weapons on him but then again neither did she; it was always better to be careful when dealing with someone of his stature. She had faith that in a straight fight she could take him no problem but things rarely turned into a straight fight and even a complete idiot could get lucky against a skilled warrior every once in a while. In one motion she swiftly kicked out his legs out from under him and had a knife along his throat.

"Crazy bitch," he gasped out.

"Come on, you didn't actually think anyone would be interested enough to just walk over and ask to sleep with you," she said sarcastically. "Did you?"

"I thought we had a connection," he said.

"Of course you did," she said with a sigh.

She moved to tie his hands and gag his mouth, wouldn't want any unnecessary complications. After that was finished she started moving him in the direction of the Raza. She had expected to be able to get him onboard and tied to a chair for interrogation before anyone noticed; unfortunately that plan went out the window when she arrived back at the docking bay to find a very annoyed and deceptively calm looking Two standing with her arms crossed at the airlock.

She went to speak but was quickly stifled by a hand and a, "Save it," from the other woman.

"Three," Two yelled at a tone that Five thought unnecessary. "Get your ass out here now."

As Three took in the scene before him he suppressed a sigh, he was never going to hear the end of this.

"Put him in the brig," Two said pointing to the tied up man. "I'll deal with him later."

Three moved silently to take hold of the man; he shot Five an apologetic look before turning and heading back inside the Raza.

"Who is he," Two asked in a measured tone.

Five knew lying would only make it worse, "Cade Vandal, a businessman; I thought he would be an easy target and I was right."

Two didn't seem to like that last part but said, "You were right."

"What if you hadn't been," she continued after a short pause.

"My skills are sufficient enough that I could have gotten out of any problems he presented," Five said calmly stating her usual line.

"Your skills," Two said. "So if he had happened to have an army of armed guards you would have been completely fine."

"If he had had an army of armed guards I would have noticed and not moved on him," Five said what she thought was obvious.

Two made a loud sigh at that, "What did I tell you when we docked here?"

"This station is known to be a haven for several unsavory characters, we've never been here before so I want you to be careful, no shore leave until I've given the all clear," Five recited almost to the letter. "That about cover it."

"Yes as a matter of fact it does," Two said her tone rising. "And did you heed any of that?

"Well no," Five said unsure. "But it worked out; we can probably get a lot of money out of him."

"What if you'd gotten hurt," Two said seemingly ignoring her.

"Well," Five started to say but was cut off.

"What if we would have had to come looking for you," Two continued.

"What if you would have died," Two finished. "Do you know what that would do to me; if we found you dead in a dark corridor somewhere?"

Five was starting to waver, "I didn't think about it like that."

"No you didn't think," Two said. "You just did whatever the Hell you wanted because you were getting antsy waiting around on the ship."

"Because screw Two, she doesn't know what she's talking about," she continued. "I'm the big con artist, I can do what I want."

"Sorry," Five finally said sounding defeated. "I didn't mean to worry you so much."

"Hey," Two said in a more comforting tone recognizing she may have gotten a little out of hand, "I didn't mean to go off like that, I just worry you know."

"I know," Five said her tone not getting any lighter.

"You know I love you right," Two said moving to give her a hug.

"Yeah," Five said a small smile making it's way onto her face.

"Good," Two said. "Because you're not allowed off the ship for the rest of the trip."

"What," Five said aghast.

"You heard me," Two said. "Now get your ass onboard while I deal with Mr. Vandal."

Five made her way onboard and headed straight for her cabin. She had some sleep to catch up on anyways.

"Hey kid," Three said from where he was leaning on a nearby wall. "She didn't get into you too hard did she."

"Not as bad as that time she caught me dancing on top of a table after buying shots for the entire bar on that station back in Draco," she said.

"I actually erased that incident from my memory but thanks for reminding me," he said with a sigh.

"You did good today," he said holding out his fist for a fist bump.

She obliged him, "Thanks."

And with that she continued on to her cabin to begin her confinement. She would serve it dutifully, getting caught by Two a second time was not a prospect she relished. She took consolation in the fact that at least they would be getting a decent payday out of the whole thing once Two worked her own skills on Mr. Vandal. He was definitely not having a good day right now.


	5. Saying Goodbye in More Ways Than One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this after season 2 episode 5 as a sort of tribute to One while also examining some of the other things that I thought were going on in Two and Three's minds at the time. I was listening to Satellite Call and Cassiopeia both by Sara Bareilles while writing this.

As Two pulled the trigger it felt like the world slowed down around her.

She saw the smoke leave the barrel of the gun as the bullet made its way to its destination.

She saw Corso's face light up with fear the moment he realized that she had actually done it, despite his pleas.

She heard the impact of the bullet with his skull.

She heard the sound of the shell casing hitting the floor.

It was all over in the span of about three seconds but she saw, heard, and felt every detail

She had ended Jace Corso's life just like that; in more ways than one it was finally over.

She had ended Jace Corso's life and to a point she supposed she had also put the final nail in the coffin of One's. One wasn't coming back and now that his doppleganger was dead by her hand she supposed that his part in all of this was over.

It had been hard enough finding out that he had died through some news report, regretting the fact that she hadn't been there for him to have his back. He had always been the voice of reason among them, always trying to find the best way to solve problems without resorting to violence. He had made them all better people just by being around and had played a large part in why they didn't just resort back into the templates of their former selves that were laid out before them when they first found out that they were sent to kill those miners, not help them. He had loved her, at least at some point in time, and had been a good friend. In the end, she supposed, the only thing that could be said for certain about him was that he was a good person, maybe even too good for the world they found themselves in.

It was over in a different way for her too. Jace Corso may have been a liar and a coward at the end but he had been right about one thing; Portia Lin would have killed One the first chance she got after finding out that he was not Jace Corso and was in fact Derrick Moss. At the time he had meant it as an insult, Portia Lin was ruthless and calculating and she was weak because she actually cared, but hadn't she just proved him wrong. Jace Corso may have been a cold killer, One's killer, but had he really deserved to die like a dog at the end of a dark tunnel as part of some attempt to get vengeance. She had killed him with barely a second thought to what that would do to the people who loved him, if there was anyone like that even out there. She had killed a man while he was begging for his life and she was going to have to live with that. Would Portia Lin be proud of her for finally having the guts to give in to the violent temptations that constantly flooded her mind or would she be disappointed at the fact that she was regretting it now, showing signs of weakness after the fact. That she couldn't figure out which was worse given the current state of affairs they found themselves in only served to confuse her more. One thing was certain, she could no longer call herself innocent in this whole thing; she had taken a man's life when he posed no tangible threat to her and she was going to have to live with his blood on her hands from now on.

She let out a sigh as she moved to find the rest of her crew.

Three sat looking out at the stars racing by in the window as he thought. He had been thinking about a lot of things recently and none of them were getting any easier to figure out. Jace Corso was dead and he supposed in some small way he should be happy about that but the only thing he felt right now was regret.

It had all been so simple in those days and weeks after they all first woke up from stasis. He had fallen into the role of the selfish, more argumentative voice in most of the debates that the crew found themselves having. One on the other hand was the voice of reason that reigned everyone else in, including him. Their verbal sparring matches had been exciting and were one of the things that he was going to miss the most without One around. He found himself wondering, however, that if they had been less antagonistic towards each other could they have been more capable of finding out who the true traitor was. Then One wouldn't be dead, neither would Jace Corso for that matter, and they wouldn't be in this current predicament with the GA; the GA and those they represented would still want them dead no doubt but it wouldn't be the immediate threat that it was now.

Then there was Six, the traitor himself. Three couldn't wrap his mind around how he was so quickly ingratiating himself to the crew again. Even Two, who Three thought would hold even more trepidation on the matter than himself considering it was her crew he had betrayed and nearly gotten killed, seemed to just give the man a free pass on everything. It seemed like he was the only one holding any sort of resentment over the fact that he betrayed them. In his mind helping them break out of prison wasn't even close to equaling out with the initial betrayal and it was going to take a long time before he was ready to trust him again. He felt himself drifting away from the rest of the crew again after a period where he felt like they were becoming something akin to a family. Five was cozying up to Six again almost like nothing happened and Two was even going over mission specs with him over lunch. It all just rubbed him the wrong way and without One around to bounce arguments off of he felt more out of place among the crew than he had ever felt in the past. Now he cared about what the others thought and it was impossible to fall back into that antagonistic role that had sustained him in those early days.

He sighed as he got up from his seat on the bridge and began moving towards his cabin.

He nearly bumped into Two as he wasn't looking where he was going

The second she looked up he could see the pain in her eyes and he was sure that she could see the pain in his.

"Saying goodbye is harder the second time," she said with a little more hint of emotion than she usually allowed.

"You can say that again," he said.

They both went their separate ways, Two to the bridge and Three to his cabin. They both still needed their time to think before they fully understood everything plaguing their minds. They weren't talkers, didn't share their feelings willy nilly, but they understood that in each other better than anyone and for that they always found particular comfort in the fact that there was someone out there just as broken as they themselves were, no matter how much of a small comfort it actually was.


	6. Hidden Talent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The idea for this chapter actually came from a dream I had where Rob Thomas from Matchbox Twenty was singing REO Speedwagon while accompanied by Bon Jovi. It compelled me to do a karaoke fic and I chose Two to be the focus firstly because she's my favorite character but also because Melissa O'Neil did win Canadian Idol so it kind of fits.

Two sat nervously tapping her fingers on the table; she wasn't sure how she had actually allowed herself to be talked into this, but she was here now and there was no time to dwell on it at the moment. It had all started with that damned upgrade chip that the android had installed herself with; she had been happy when the android had been able to use it to help them track down Jace Corso, but now she was regretting giving her permission when the android asked to be able to install it. Because of course, now that the android could pass as human she had to experience a "night on the town" as Nyx had called it and that quickly turned into a girl's night out, even Five had tagged along though Two made it clear to the others that the younger woman wasn't to have any alcohol.

They were docked at a station on the fringes of the galaxy that didn't ask questions so there wasn't any threat from GA guards and any aspiring bounty hunters on the station likely had rap sheets just as long as them and weren't too keen on alerting the GA to their presence. It was easy enough to find a club that didn't appear too seedy and settle in for what had been a nice time. That was until Nyx noticed a sign talking about a karaoke competition and had another one of her brilliant ideas for team bonding, Two was really going to have to have a talk with her when this was all over.

"Look karaoke," she had said in an excited tone. "Someone definitely needs to go in there and represent team Raza."

And before Two could say anything to kill the conversation right then and there, of course the android had to pipe in and make things even worse.

"It would make sense for a leader to represent her ship in such a competition," she had said. "Besides Two is actually quite the shower singer."

Before Two could rap her head around how the android actually knew about that Nyx jumped all over the idea.

"Oh that would be perfect," she had said.

"Why don't you do it," Two said trying to take the conversation a different direction.

"No my voice is terrible," Nyx said quickly. "You want to win this don't you."

"I can confirm that Two's voice is quite angelic," the android said adding on to her earlier creepiness.

Five had been quiet the entire time but when Two looked to her for support the younger woman only flashed her a smile and shrugged her shoulders.

It had taken a little while longer of pleading to finally get her to breath out, "Fine," and follow them over to where the competition was being held. It was a smaller club than the one they had been in previously with the bar to one side and a small stage surrounded by several small tables, which is where she now sat nervously waiting her turn.  
"This is going to be so awesome," Nyx said while bouncing excitedly in her seat.

"Sure," she said trying to maintain a tone of indifference.

She wasn't sure how but the wait managed to seem like an eternity and flash by in an instant all at the same time.

A man moved forward to the mic and called out, "Next up is Two," before a smile appeared on his face and he continued, "Well you're not going to do well with that kind of attitude, and just to be clear there's no prizes being handed out for anything other than first place."

She ignored his comments and made her way up to the stage; she may have been strong armed into doing this but she wasn't about to let anyone beat her in anything.

"Hi," she said into the mic. "I'd like to take you all back to a simpler time."

As the lights dimmed and the music to Styx's 1981 hit, The Best of Times, began playing a sudden air of confidence that she had never felt before washed over her. As she meandered her way through the song she found herself strutting around the stage with a stage presence that she never knew she possessed; she felt like she belonged there. By the time the music for the second song, a forgotten ballad from REO Speedwagon in 1990, Can't Lie to My Heart, she was fully engrossed in everthing she was doing and felt none of the nervousness that she had felt earlier. By the time it was over and she came back down from her high to the sounds of clapping and more than a few whistles she was beaming in a way she had never felt before; the whole thing had been invigorating.

She won of course and as the women of the Raza made their way back towards the ship with the prize money she noticed the strange looks that the others were giving her.

"Whatever you're thinking," she said in an annoyed tone. "Out with it."

"I've heard of hidden talents before but damn," Nyx said. "Why did you ever decide on a life of crime?"

"Is that rhetorical," she said questioningly.

"Oh yeah," Nyx said. "I guess it is."

"You did great tonight," Five joined in.

"Thanks," she said in response.

"Maybe we should start a karaoke night on the ship," Nyx said excitedly.

"No," Two said sternly.

"We take this," she said holding up the prize money. "And forget any of this ever happened."

"I don't think I'll ever be able to forget that voice," Nyx said.

"And," Two said continuing her stern tone. "No one else finds out about this."

"Oh that's right," Nyx said excitedly as if she had just found out some sort of secret to the universe. "The boys didn't get to hear."

"And they won't," Two said maintaining a stern tone and expression. "This never leaves this station."

Two thought that was the end of it. There had been no protests at her final declaration and though she still harbored certain fears about Nyx she was confident that the other woman wouldn't cross her. It turned out that it wasn't Nyx that she had to be worried about.

"What are you doing Robot," Three said as he walked onto the bridge to find the android staring aimlessly into space. "You seem distracted."

Without even thinking the android said, "Replaying Two's voice over and over again in my head."

"It really is something special," she continued. "Though I don't understand her fascination with love songs; she doesn't seem like that kind of person."

Three was certainly confused but offered, "People are complicated."

"Yes I suppose they are," the android confirmed before walking off.

Two walked onto the bridge moments later to find a very confused Three.

"Do you sing," he said. "Because the Robot says you sing."

She sighed, she was going to have a very long conversation with the android after this about boundaries.


	7. One More Time to Kill the Pain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this chapter when I was feeling particularly emotional about not having texted one person in particular in a long time and I thought it would be cool if Devon had a girlfriend. I was listening to 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins and How's It Going to Be by Third Eye Blind while writing this. The title comes from a line in the song Mary Jane's Last Dance by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

His hands were already shaking as he pulled the vile from his pocket and inserted it into the injector device; at this point he wasn't even sure how much of it was from the withdrawal and how much of it was because of PTSD, but he supposed that it didn't matter in the end.

He quickly checked his surroundings to make sure that the coast was clear; Five was already getting suspicious and it wouldn't do anyone any good if the rest of the crew found out about what he's been doing. He's not ashamed of what he's doing at all, it's the only way he's able to see her again, but if they found out they would inevitably ask questions and he wasn't really ready to answer any of them yet. When he was sure no one else was around he plunged the device into his neck and emptied it of its contents.

It wasn't long before her form began to appear through the drug induced haze, black hair that hung in waves down to slightly past her shoulders and azure eyes that always seemed to be able to look into his soul. She wore a black leather jacket over top of a grey tank top much the same as when he had last seen her alive. Tight black jeans and combat boots completed the ensemble as well as the necklace of an old ship's wheel that hung around her neck. The gun attached to her hip served to remind him that she was both beautiful and dangerous.

"Anna," he breathed out upon seeing her.

"Devon," she said back to him. "You promised that last time was the last time you would use that junk."

"I did," he said shyly. "But I missed you."

"It's hard not having you around all of the time," he continued after a breath.

"How are things going with your new friends," she asked moving to sit down directly in front of him.

"As best as can be expected," he said reluctantly. "The one I told you about is getting suspicious though."

"They have to find out sometime," she said. "It's best that they find out from you and not after finding you high as a kite in your room."

"I know," he said. "I'm not ready for their questions though."

"Why not," she said. "You have nothing to be ashamed of."

"You died on my table," he said sadly. "That's a pretty big deal."

"There's nothing you could have done," she said confidently.

"Still hurts though," he said his gaze falling to the floor.

"If I hadn't let you go on that job," he began saying before being cut off with a glare.

"It was my ship," she said sternly. "There was no way in Hell that I wasn't going to be there."

"You're probably right," he said with a smile.

"Hey, you remember how we first met," he said after a pause.

"Of course," she said. "If I remember correctly you were staring at me from across a courtyard."

"How could you not stare at you though," he said with a smile.

"Not the point," she said with a sigh.

"You were standing there, looking pretty badass if I might add," he said. "And before I could even pick my jaw up off the ground you walked over and started talking to me."

"Well my crew needed medical attention and word had gotten around the station about who you were, otherwise," she said with a smirk.

"Fresh out of medical training, stranded on some outpost due to corporate politics, and before I know it I get approached by the most beautiful woman in the entire galaxy asking if I can help one of her crew unimpale himself from some pipe," he said.

"Seems like that was all of my good luck for the rest of my life," he said sadly.

"You don't have to be miserable here you know," she said gesturing to the ship around them. "These are good people."

"Good people maybe," he said. "But they aren't you."

"No one is," she said. "But they are good people and if you just come out and tell them what you're dealing with they'll understand."

"Hiding it will only make it harder when things eventually do come out," she continued.

"I know," he breathed out.

"Now promise me you won't pick this stuff up again," she said pointing to injecting device now lying on the ground. "And I mean it this time, if I have to see you like this again next time I won't be so accommodating."

"But," he began to protest.

"No buts," she said sternly. "If we meet like this again you're getting punched."

"Would that even really hurt though," he said. "I mean you are just a projection of my mind."

"Again not the point," she said. "And if you wanted it to hurt which I know you would then it would."

"It's not the same with just my memories," he said sadly.

"It's not supposed to be," she said. "But if you keep doing this you're just going to destroy yourself."

"There are still people out there for you to help, these people," she continued. "So go help them."

With that it was over and as he began to come down from the high he could already feel the tears welling up in his eyes. She was right, of course, she always was, but that didn't mean that he had to like it. He sat there for he didn't even know how long just letting it all out. By the time he came back to his senses Five was already standing above him with a questioning look on her face. It was now or never.

"Can you get the rest of the crew together," he said in a shaky voice. "I need to tell them something."

"Alright," she replied confused, but already moving to do exactly that.

Once she was gone he looked at the injecting device on the ground. He slowly picked it up and then held it in his hands for a while, just looking.

With a sigh he said, "Goodbye Anna," and threw it at the wall shattering it instantly.


	8. Cut From The Same Cloth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this chapter while feeling drained after moving back in at college. This is part two of the "Older Five" AU and it includes some mild Two/Three shipping. It's not my favorite thing but it seemed to fit the narrative so if you'd like to avoid that here's fair warning. I was listening to Oh Love by Green Day while writing this.

"What was she thinking," Two shouted as the door closed behind her.

Three couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face as things were turning out just as he had predicted them when he first saw the scene at the airlock.

"She did good today," he said repeating the earlier sentiment he had given to Five herself.

"What," Two said looking at him as if he had just sprouted a third arm. "How can you be ok with this?"

"I'm the fun one remember," the snarky remark escaped his mouth before he could stop it.

"Really funny," Two said her voice dripping with sarcasm. "If this life as a criminal doesn't work out for you maybe you can take your comedic abilities to the masses; if they like it twice as much as I do you may be able to scrape together some pocket change."

"Your words wound me," he said.

"I can do a lot worse than that without words," she said with a smirk.

"I don't doubt it," he said. "That's why I try to stay on your good side."

"She's a lot like you, you know," he continued after a pause.

"What do you mean," she questioned.

"Strong, confident, knows how to bend people into doing what she wants them to do," he said. "She's got a little of all of us in her, but you and her are cut from the same cloth."

"She really takes after you," he finished.

"I wouldn't go that far," she said trying to contain her shyness at that revelation and the smile threatening to appear on her face at the same time.

"I would," he said confidently. "It's been there since the beginning."

"You're doing what everyone else in your position does eventually," he continued.

"And what is that," she said without her usual confidence.

"You're trying to keep her from becoming too much like you, too much of a criminal" he said moving closer to her. "But you're wrong on both counts."

"You're far more than just any old criminal," he said pointing a finger into her chest. "You're better than that."

"And despite everything, despite growing up with the lot of us she's actually turned out to be a pretty decent person under the con artist façade," he continued.

"I guess we all did good in that respect," he said smiling.

"She can handle herself now," she admitted with a sad smile.

"Right," he said. "And you being overbearing and overprotective like you have been is just going to continue to push her away until one day we'll be leaving a station or a system without her on board."

Two noticeably shuttered at the concept.

"Sometimes you just have to let someone her age spread their wings a little," he said. "Make their own mistakes."

"We've been through worse I suppose," she said with a small smile.

"If you're trying to bring up the Draco incident I'd rather you not," he said.

"It wasn't that bad," she said.

"Trust me it was bad," he said. "First seeing her like that; then you got a look on your face that was almost animalistic with anger."

"I've seen death and destruction across the galaxy," he said. "But that's what still keeps me up some nights."

"Fine," she said raising her arms in surrender. "No bringing it up again."

"Good," he said breathing a sigh of relief.

"Now," he said regaining himself. "Don't you have something else to take care of."

"What," she questioned.

"A certain businessman that is very tied up at the moment," he said.

She let out a laugh," Now that was funny."

"I wasn't even trying to," he began but was cut off.

"No, no don't ruin it," she said in between continuing laughs.

"By the way," she said regaining herself. "Thanks."

"No problem," he said.

"Where did all of that stuff come from anyways," she asked.

"I read the same books you did," he said.

"I didn't read any books," she said defensively.

"Yeah you did," he said knowingly. "Now go kick his ass for me."

"Gladly," she said leaning up to kiss him on the cheek.

She made her way quickly to the brig where Cade Vandal had spent the past few hours staring at four steel walls and contemplating why he of all people was in this particular situation when all he wanted to do was get lucky with some hot stranger in a bar. Little did he know that his day was about to get much, much worse. Two strode in confidently and fixed him with an angry stare.

"Listen lady I don't know what you want but I'm sure we can work something out," he said frantically. "A win win for both of us.

She glared at him, "Cade Vandal."

"The one and only," he said. "I can get you anything you want, just name it."

"Well known businessman with ties to several large corporations but best known for his role as head negotiator for TitanCorp," she continued ignoring him. "Also wanted in 53 separate sectors of space for drug trafficking."

"Yeah I read your file," she said in response to his questioning gaze. "Honestly I'm not that impressed."

"Me and my crew were on the GA's most wanted list for a while," she continued smugly. "Before you know we killed most of their leaders and put our own man in charge."

"Chancellor Keirken," she continued. "You've probably heard of him by now."

"You're the crew of the Raza," he said astonished.

"The one and only," Two said with a devilish grin. "So tell me how exactly you could help me in any way."

"My younger counterpart seems to think we can get a good deal of money out of you and money's always a good sweetener," she continued. "Is she right?"

"Yes of course," he said hurriedly. "I'm filthy rich, I can get you any amount you want."

"Then again," she said seemingly ignoring him again. "The reward for turning you in would be staggering."

"I wonder what the GA would do to a scheming corporate scumbag like you," she continued. "Probably nothing good."

"No, no," he said frantically. "They'll execute me for some bullshit war crimes or something, I'll do anything."

"Don't be so dramatic," Two said with another smirk. "It's beneath you to beg."

"How about half a million credits and we forget about this whole thing," she finally said having seen him squirm long enough.

"Yes of course," he said breathing out a sigh of relief. "Anything you want."

"Just so we're clear though," Two said fixing him with an even more dangerous glare than before. "If you ever so much as look at her again you'll be wishing for the GA by the time I'm done with you."

"You may wind up missing a particular body part even," she continued. "If you know what I mean."

"Of course," he said. "I'm swearing off strange girls in bars for the rest of my life."

"Probably a good idea," she said.

He was brought out of his sense of calm at thinking it was over now by a bone-crunching punch across his jaw. He noticeably winced in pain.

"Sorry," Two said. "I just had to get it out of my system."

As Two walked back onto the ship several hours later carefully checking over the money transfers to make sure that Vandal hadn't shorted them anything she ran into Five casually walking towards the bridge.

"Is that the payment from Vandal," the younger woman asked.

"Yeah," Two confirmed. "Half a million credits though at the point I had him I think he would have given me both of his kidneys."

Five let out a small laugh, "No one's better at interrogations than you are."

"After such a successful job I find myself wondering what might be next for the big, bad con artist," Two said casually.

"Like I would tell you," Five said with a smirk. "Just be ready for when I bring them here."

"Always," Two said before turning and heading back towards her quarters.

As she entered she saw a particularly content looking Three stretched out on the bed with his hands behind his head.

"I take it we haven't completely broken her spirit yet," he said smugly.

"Not at all," Two said confused. "How did you even know I talked to her?"

"Who do you think sent her over that way," he said maintaining his smug grin.

"You're too much sometimes," she said with a grin of her own.

"You love it though," he said.

"Who's to say I'm not just in it for your body," she said.

"You would have stopped a long time ago if that was the case," he said. "This body's not exactly top of the line."

"Yeah," she said pushing him over to one side as she climbed in. "Still too much."


	9. Mirror

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this chapter after season 2 episode 8 because I really wanted to see a real interaction between Two and the alternate universe Portia. The Star Trek The Next Generation episode "Parallels" was a particular inspiration. This includes some mild Two/Alternate Universe Portia hints so if you'd like to avoid that here's fair warning. I was listening to Sleeping at the Wheel by Matchbox Twenty and Days Go By by the Offspring while writing this.

Two let out a gasp of surprise as she felt herself being pinned against the wall. She wasn't sure what she expected to happen when she walked through the door and into the room that had held her and Three's doppelgangers only a few hours earlier, but it had definitely not been this. She nervously moved her eyes to meet those of her attacker and met a pair exactly the same as hers.

"How did you," she started to say but was stifled by a finger pressed to her lips.

"Shh, shh, shh," her doppelganger said slowly. "That would ruin the fun."

"What do you want," Two asked trying to remain calm.

"Not sure," her doppelganger said. "Just wanted to see you again."

"Why," Two questioned.

Her doppelganger released her from her hold and ran her hands through her hair agitatedly as she walked to the other side of the room.

"You wouldn't understand," she finally breathed out; she mumbled something further but it was too low for Two to hear it.

"Try me," Two said as she moved herself to lean comfortably against the same wall. "Who better right?"

"You wouldn't understand," her doppelganger repeated shaking her head before saying more. "You're the good one."

"The good one," Two said raising an eyebrow. "How do you gather that?"

"Look at you," her doppelganger said gesturing towards her. "Your crew respects you, you actually have friends that aren't just "friends" until it's no longer convenient for them, and you don't massacre entire colonies just to make a quick buck; you have everything."

"What do I have," she continued shakily. "A relationship that only lasts until I'm off the ship, a tyrant who tries to control my every move even though it's my ship, and a body count so high I don't even want to think about it."

"I actually enjoy killing people," she continued further. "How fucked up is that?"

"Pretty fucked up," Two answered. "You got us both on that count."

Her doppelganger looked up at her with a sad smile, "You too."

"Me too," Two said dejectedly. "Especially Wexler."

"Wexler," her doppelganger said questioningly. "What did that idiot do?"

"Ejected me into space," Two said with a smile.

Her doppelganger let out a laugh, "I remember the first time that happened to me; the look on their faces when you get back on the ship never get's old."

Two nodded her head in agreement.

As a silence settled over the room Two found that her thoughts were all over the place.

Why was she even entertaining a conversation with this woman? Sure this woman looked like her, sounded like her, even had similar taste in clothing and hair styles, but at the end of the day this woman was more like Portia Lin than she was like her. That was just it though, this woman may not be her but she wasn't Portia Lin either; she was some odd combination of the two. She may have done some terrible things to a lot of innocent people, but she didn't seem like the cold, emotionless wall that Portia Lin was; this woman actually felt something. Two couldn't help the strange sense of pity that came over her in regards to the woman who looked so much like her standing only just across the room.

"I don't want to go back," her doppelganger said breaking her out of her thoughts.

"What," Two said confused.

"I don't want to go back to that world," her doppelganger said almost shyly. "The one where I'm such a monster."

"People actually break down and cry just at the mention of my name," she continued. "Just one muttering of "I'll get Portia down here" from someone and whoever had been holding strong before immediately starts to spill their respective beans."

"You're not as bad as the Portia Lin I know," Two said calmly.

"What," the Portia standing across from her said confused.

"Someone wiped our memories and when we woke up we were the people we are now," Two said. "The Portia Lin that I was before the memory wipe was the real monster, you've got nothing on her."

"I'm still a monster though," Portia said resigned. "You don't have to sugar coat it."

"Maybe so," Two said. "You don't have to be though."

"You're talking about it, getting it out in the open" she continued. "That's more than she ever did."

"I wish I could go back," Portia said slowly. "To before everything went to shit, maybe I'd turn out like you."

"No," Two said calmly. "You'd still be you just without the terrible baggage weighing you down."

"You and me," she continued moving closer to the other woman and gesturing between them. "We may be mirrors of each other but we're still different people and no amount of starting from scratch is going to change that."

Two was taken by surprise again as the other woman moved to hug her.

"You know," Two said as the other woman maintained her hold. "Someone once told me that I shouldn't feel obligated to be a person that I don't want to be."

"If you don't want to be this monster anymore then maybe you should stop trying to be," she continued.

"The things I've done," Portia said dejectedly as she pulled away muttering something that sounded like "Unforgivable".

"Yeah maybe you've done some terrible things to people who didn't deserve it," Two said. "But so have I.'

"I killed Jace Corso," Two said reluctantly. "While he was begging for his life."

"Jace Corso," Portia said with a tinge of fear.

"He wasn't exactly as crazy and sadistic as the one you know but he was still a son of a bitch," Two said. "Still he was begging for his life and I just pulled the trigger like it was nothing."

"Yeah I've been there," Portia said sadly.

"But you don't have to let your mistakes define you," Two said. "You can be better than that."

"I can't go back there," Portia said with a tone of finality. "If I do I know I'll just fall back into the routine."

"I'm not sure staying with us is such a good idea," Two said timidly.

"Oh," Portia said dejected. "I get it."

"But I've already screwed up so much already both individually and as part of this crew and you've done the same if not worse so why don't we say screw the Universe this once and do it anyway," Two said.

"Yeah, screw the Universe," Portia said. "I like the sound of that, especially if that means I get to see that sexy ass of ours more often."

"I'll be around if you need me for something," she finished and walked past Two and out the door.

Two stood there confused for a few minutes. Did her doppelganger from a parallel Universe just hit on her? No, that was too weird and confusing to even begin to contemplate right now. Thinking of more reasonable things she figured that she should tell the crew about their new shipmate. As she strode uneasily towards the bridge to call them there; she wasn't sure how they'd take it but they needed to know and stalling was only going to make it worse.

"Two to the rest of the crew," she said into the intercom fighting back her nerves. "Meet me in the mess in fifteen, we have to discuss a few things."

With that she sat down in a chair and let out a sigh. She had never exactly said screw you to the Universe before so she wasn't sure what to expect when it realized that it had lost control, if only for a brief moment. It probably wouldn't be good; the Universe seemed like the type to hold grudges.


	10. What Remains

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this after I finally caught up with the show on Netflix. This is sort of just a look at what Two's thoughts may be following the season 2 finale. I was listening to I Don't Love You by My Chemical Romance while writing this.

Two let go with another devastating punch on the heavy bag that had been bearing the brunt of her anger for the past hour. She was imagining that it was Four or whatever he was calling himself now that she was punching. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to be feeling right now. She was the only member of the crew to make it back on board after everything that went down on Eo7. Five made it off of the station with Truffault and while that wasn't exactly the best case scenario at least she was safe. She had no idea where Three and Six were. And of course Nyx was dead on the floor thanks to Four.

Four, she wasn't sure what she was supposed to be feeling about him right now either. She was angry, angrier than she had been in a long time. It wasn't even the fact that he killed all of those people like it was nothing, though that was still unsettling. No, her anger came from a place that was far more personal and far harder to just forget. They had all lived and worked with each other long enough that any problem one of them had should have been brought to the attention of everyone else and dealt with together, as a crew, as a family. Instead of going to the rest of them for help though Four let the monster that was Ryo Tetsuda have free purchase back inside his head. She had let it happen because it really wasn't her place to say whether or not someone had access to their own memories. It still hurt that the time they spent together as a crew apparently meant nothing to him in that moment.

Maybe she should have seen this coming. Ryo Tetsuda, after all, was a ruthless man who she had seen in action while in the parallel universe. Was it really that hard to believe that he would resort to something as extreme as this if he thought it would accomplish his goals? She didn't know what the answer to that was, even now, all that she knew was that she had failed her crew in that respect. And now they were God knows where, possibly dead or dying, while what could only be described as a maniacal dictator was off prancing around the galaxy with one of the most powerful technologies in existence. She threw out another hard punch imagining her own face as the target this time. How could she have been so stupid?

"Two," the Android's voice cut through her current state of introspection like a knife.

"Android," she said working to get her breathing under control as she removed the gloves she had been training with. "What can I do for you?"

"You have elevated stress levels," the Android stated matter of factly.

"Just worried," she said. "Can you really blame me?"

"No," the Android said. "I too am worried."

"But," she continued. "You need to be in peak physical condition when we begin to search for the rest of the crew."

"Are you saying I should take a break," Two asked.

"Precisely," the Android said.

"Well alright," she said looking back at the marks she had left on the bag. "Not much getting done in here anyways."

"Don't worry," she said putting her hand on the Android's shoulder. "We'll find them."

"I have the utmost faith in you," she heard the Android say in reply as she turned to make her way to her cabin.

The Android had seemed sincere enough as she said that and Two was glad that at least one of them had faith in her, she wasn't exactly feeling much faith in herself right now. All of those people were dead now and a corporate war that could result in the deaths of millions more was all but inevitable, she was separated from the rest of her crew who could be dead for all she knew, and the blink drive had fallen into what were undoubtedly the wrong hands all because she failed to see the threat of Four's memories for what it really was. His face as he ordered his soldiers to slit the throats of the Seers and his brother and stepmother briefly flashed through her mind, a twisted smile as he completely abandoned his identity as Four.

They had all worked to build the Raza and themselves into something better than what they had been in the past. She thought back to those first moments after the Android told them all about their true identities and what kind of people they really were. Four had said that it didn't matter who they were in the past and she had found herself silently agreeing. It was still a philosophy that went through her mind every day as she tried her best to prove that she was Two and not Portia Lin. She thought that that had set them on a path to make something better of themselves and their situation and for the most part it had. All of that was gone now though. The era of calm, peaceful comradery that they had developed over the time since waking up was now shattered into a million pieces because of Ryo Tetsuda. All that remained in its place was anger and a desire for retribution.

She wasn't sure how or when, but she was going to get Ryo Tetsuda for this. He may be a ruthless ruler with thousands of loyal soldiers under his command, but in the end she was going to find a way to right the wrongs that he had committed; it would most likely end with his head on a pike. She was sure that he was wallowing in his victory right now, maybe even throwing a party to celebrate his tactical brilliance. She hoped that he choked on his wine. It didn't matter if she would have to build an army herself or go against his royal guard as a one woman tornado of violence, she was going to stop him. He was going to rue the day that he ever decided to hurt her and her crew. She may not be Portia Lin, but she was Two, commander of the Raza, and she was pissed off. And pissed off Two was not about to let someone who hurt her family simply get away with it. Thoughts of what she was going to do to him when she finally found him were a strangely comforting feeling as she succumbed to the exhaustion that she had been feeling since she made it back on board.


	11. Terminus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this as a sort of continuation of the previous chapter but you don't have to read it that way. I was feeling particularly dark for some reason. I was listening to Outlaws by Green Day while writing this.

Forced to her knees while Ryo Tetsuda looked down on her from his throne Two refused to give the man who had ruined her life and the lives of everyone she cared about the satisfaction of looking him in the eyes. It was a final, childish, grasp at power that she knew she didn't have in this situation but she couldn't help it nonetheless.

"Portia," he said as if she would answer to that name. "It's been awhile."

"Oh that's right, you're still going by Two in most circles," he amended. "A pointless designation if you ask me."

She still refused to look at him.

"What I mean is that you've made the name Two a part of yourself as if that name was ever anything more than a marker of how fast we all woke up," he continued. "It's pathetic really that you put such meaning into something that doesn't actually mean anything simply as an act of cowardice from your real name."

He didn't understand. Maybe at one time Four did, but the person before her now could never understand just how much the name Two was her entire being.

"If you brought me in here just to mock me you might as well just get it over with," she spoke for the first time. "I've already heard enough of your bullshit to last a lifetime."

Ryo took in her appearance for the first time since she had been brought into his throne room. Her appearance was disheveled, hair a scattered mess. She had bags under her eyes and lines on her face that hadn't been there the last time he'd seen her. She still wore much the same clothing that she had during their last encounter but it was now marked by an abundance of rips and tears.

"Just trying to set the record straight," he said.

"Those men you killed out there were good men," he continued after a pause. "Most people would already be dead, but someone like you deserved a certain courtesy, for old times' sake."

"There are no old times," she said despondently. "Not anymore, thanks to you."

"Come on, of course there are," he said. "Just because we're the only one's left around to enjoy them doesn't mean that they don't exist."

"Remember that time we stopped off on that station and Nyx was using her abilities to guess what color credit chip was under the bowl," he continued.

"Nyx, the woman you supposedly loved, the woman you left to die to fulfill your own selfish goals," she said angrily. "I can't tell if your fucking with me or if you're just that crazy."

"Nyx was an unfortunate incident, collateral damage," he said in a measured tone. "Rest assured that Misaki was punished appropriately for her actions that day."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better," she asked defiantly.

"No," he said. "Just setting the record straight."

"Well as long as we're "Setting the record straight" as you call it we might as well talk about how you hunted down and murdered my crew," she said scoffing at him.

"An unfortunate necessity," he said betraying no emotion. "It was the only way to assure your presence here today."

"What do you want from me," she asked.

"Nothing," he said. "Just setting the record straight, as I've said, three times now as a matter of fact."

"The girl screamed you know," he said. "It was almost deafening."

"You're a sick man," she said trying to reign in the tears threating to fall from her eyes, she would not give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

"Thank you," he said. "It's important to be feared as a leader."

"I just want you know it wasn't personal," he said. "They were in the way and had to be dealt with."

"They were your friends," she yelled out. "Family even."

"Some friends of mine not doing everything they could when they could to help my people," he said.

"Some friends of mine who worked to intentionally sabotage my reign as emperor, hurt my people," he continued.

"And family," he said with a scoff. "Don't kid yourself."

"We were nothing more than a bunch of lowlifes thrown into shared circumstances," he continued. "Nothing more and nothing less."

"Now that we've got that settled, what to do with you," he said. "You're too much of a risk to keep alive."

"Just kill me then you bastard," she said. "You've already killed or destroyed everything I care about."

"You're a monster," she said after a moment.

"Monster, an interesting title," he said as he stepped down from the throne, his sword now unsheathed. "Many similar things were said about Napoleon Bonaparte once upon a time, but he put his people first and did what was necessary."

"If doing what's necessary to protect my people is what makes me a monster then I take the title in stride," he finished.

He continued walking forward until he was standing just in front of her crouched form. She briefly looked up to meet his eyes, now, and saw nothing of the man he used to be.

"What happened to you," she asked.

"Nothing that wasn't inevitable," was his only response.

He moved another step closer and she could now feel the cold steel of his blade on her neck.

"Let's see how well those nanites do against decapitation," he said. "My guess is not that good."

She felt her pulse quicken in fear and anticipation as the blade left her neck and moved into the air. As she sat through what were looking more and more like her final moments a series of images flashed through her mind. Finding out about their true identities and the kind of people that their previous selves really were. One kissing her while they sat on the floor of the training room. That still indescribable sense of protectiveness that she felt for Five in the casino when she killed all of those men. Waking up in prison betrayed by one of her own. Finally giving into the anger she felt and killing Jace Corso in that tunnel. They weren't things that she could share with the man standing over her anymore but they still mattered. After several more moments she felt a sudden flash of pain and then nothing at all.


	12. Similar and Different

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently a part of me really likes the idea of people beating Six up. Regardless, this is a look at what Six might be up to following the finale. I feel like he more than anyone else would be able to understand the motives behind what Four did. I was listening to You Run Away by Barenaked Ladies while writing this.

Six looked up from the small table he had been seated at for what felt like hours to see a man in Galactic Authority garb, sporting a particularly disingenuous looking smile, moving to sit in the seat across from him. Everything that happened on Eo7 was still a confusing swirl of emotions that he wasn’t getting any closer to unraveling just sitting in the blank, white room that made up the Galactic Authority interrogation room he had been confined to since being captured by their agents in the chaos of it all.

“I’m Captain Rylen,” the greying, clean shaven man said in a matter of fact tone as he took the only other available seat. “Kal Varrik was a friend of mine.”

“If he was here I’m sure he’d love to catch up with you,” Six said defiantly.

“That’s right, it’s Six now isn’t it,” Rylen said with a grin on his face. “Last to wake up but first to betray his crew, is that right?”

“You don’t know anything about me,” Six said.

“I know that you betrayed your crew the first chance you got, can’t back away from that one,” the smug grin was still in place. “But you’re such a turncoat that you couldn’t resist the opportunity to play double agent either.”

“Honestly I’m surprised these people still put their lives in your hands after all the double dealing and betrayal,” the man continued. “But then again you weren’t the one they had to watch out for were you.”

That was true enough. He may have been the first one to betray the Raza crew, but Four had taken what he did and made it seem like child’s play in comparison to his own actions. In a lot of ways Six could understand why Four did what he did, at least under the influence of Ryo Tetsuda’s memories. He was trying to help his people, save them from destruction, and deep down a part of him could even admire that ideal, he had done something similar after all. However, Four’s methods left a lot to be desired.

“What do you know about Ryo Tetsuda,” the question was asked as if Six had any more information to go off than he did. Six highly doubted that that was actually the case.

“You represent the big corporate overlords,” Six said with a sneer. “Why don’t you tell me?

“That right there,” Rylen said waving his finger haphazardly. “That’s gonna cost you.”

“Bring Jericho in here,” the man said pressing a small button in the table that Six hadn’t noticed before.

A mountain of a man in a trench coat holding what looked like some sort of metal rod appeared at the door after a few moments.

“You two have fun,” Rylen said as he exited.

“So,” the new tormentor said in a thick accent that Six couldn’t quite place, not quite what he remembered French being described as but in that spectrum. “You’re the traitor.”

“Did you come in here to talk,” Six said already knowing the answer.

“No,” the man said, the hint of smile appearing on his face.

The rod came down suddenly across the tops of his hands as they sat handcuffed on the table. He could tell almost immediately that several knuckles were broken and just hoped that the beating would end before he lost the total use of his hands. He had never been particularly lucky in his life and as the hits kept coming he hoped that this would be over before the man killed him.

Outside of the room Captain Rylen stood watching through the one-way window that made up one of the interrogation room’s walls. Jericho was certainly going to town on “Six” and he felt a sense of satisfaction at finally seeing that lying backstabber pay for what he had done. As another viscous hit landed on the man that was becoming less and less coherent with his screams as time went on Rylen felt another presence behind him.

“Warden Gardner,” he acknowledged the man. “Your man is doing fine work in there.”

“He always does,” the younger man said.

“Let him work him over for a few more minutes and then dump the bastard on one of the uninhabited planets,” Rylen said with a smirk. “He doesn’t know anything.”

As Six woke up the only thing he could see for miles around was red and brown rock. His hands were bandaged and several of the other injuries he had sustained during the interrogation were cleaned up but he was in no shape to defend himself if a real threat presented itself on this unknown world. He had heard about this kind of thing, some sort of sick game the Galactic Authority officials liked to play, putting a prisoner on an uninhabited planet to see if they made it out alive. There was probably some sort of recording device somewhere sending the whole thing back to the waiting eyes of that bastard Rylen.

He wasn’t a perfect man. He had worked for the Galactic Authority at one point in his past life, probably sucked in by the propaganda and fancy uniforms. He had went undercover as a criminal and committed despicable acts to maintain his cover while working with the original Raza crew. And he had betrayed the new people that the Raza crew had become out of some sort of misguided sense of moral righteousness and protective instinct. If this was the kind of punishment the powers that be in the universe saw fit to put on him then he would accept it.

As he sat there in the endless sea of reds and browns his mind once again shifted back to Four. They weren’t that different when you really got down to it. They were both filled with a sense of duty towards whatever entity they thought they owed that duty towards and they both sought a way to fulfill that duty even as the new people they were after waking up. He would accept his fate as the universe saw fit to dish it out. His only hope was that Four would be getting his soon enough. Whether that came in the form of Two and the rest of the Raza crew, the Galactic Authority and Captain Rylen, his own people, or one of the various corporations that he had undoubtedly pissed off with his little stunt on Eo7 he didn’t really care.

The sounds of the Raza’s engines didn’t initially register to him as he laid on the ground not far from where the Galactic Authority had dropped him off. His eyes flashed open a few moments later to see Two and the Android walking towards him like a mirage. They made it to him in no time at all and the shocked looks on their faces told him all he needed to know about his current state after several weeks stranded on what he had quickly realized was mostly a wasteland of a world. Maybe now he would get the chance to give Four his punishment in person. They were the same in a lot of ways but in the end Four was the one that cut all ties with absoluteness and without regret. 

They were the same but different in a lot of ways too and he was determined to work at convincing himself of that fact no matter how much he was struggling to believe it. He didn’t deserve the crew’s trust as much as Four didn’t, he knew that deep down, but he wasn’t going to let that maniac that used to be his friend get away with anything he did. Maybe this was his penance, chasing after a man he had once called his friend, fighting the good fight to take down the evil in the galaxy, and not deserving any of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On a side note I feel like dumping prisoners on uninhabited planets to fend for themselves while they watched is something that an evil space government like the GA would do. Not sure what the next one shot will be. I have an idea floating around in my head about Five's situation following the finale as well as continuations of the Older Five and Two/Alternate Universe Portia AUs but we'll see what happens.


	13. Baseline

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter got dark, sorry about that. I don't think they would ever go this particular route with the show, but I can definitely see it as something Rook would do. I was listening to The Last Something That Meant Anything by Mayday Parade while writing this.

Two opened her eyes slowly and took in her surroundings. The first thing that she noticed was that her arms and legs were restrained, holding her to some kind of chair. She gathered up all of her strength to try and break out of the restraints and found that she couldn’t. A sense of foreboding fell upon her like a ton of bricks at that realization.

“You’ll find we’ve neutralized your abilities in this room Rebecca,” the unmistakable voice of Alexander Rook rang throughout the room. “I wouldn’t try that if I were you.”

“Where are you, you bastard,” she yelled out.

“I’ll be joining you shortly,” he said smugly. “Don’t get too anxious, I might think you miss me.”

With that silence filled the room again and she took the opportunity to gather the rest of her surroundings. The walls were white and lined with blue lights, typical scientific facility. There was a large table along one wall that held various tools and devices that she couldn’t hope to grasp the function of. Along another wall there was what looked like a prison cell of some kind with a forcefield providing captivity to someone or something that she couldn’t see. Before she could turn her gaze to the rest of the room Alexander Rook himself walked in through the room’s only door flanked by two bodyguards.

“Rebecca,” he said far more cheerily than the situation warranted. “Long time no see.”

“I think I made it pretty clear last time how I feel about you,” she spat at him.

“Now now, don’t talk like that,” he said smiling. “We’re going to be seeing a lot more of each other from here on out and I’d hate for you to taint that before we even get started.”

“Whatever you want the answer is no,” she said.

“You see I thought you might say that, so I brought a little insurance,” he said gesturing over his shoulder. “All you have to do Rebecca is let me reset your programming, fix your malfunctions and we can go back to the way things used to be.”

“Whatever you have behind that force field, whatever you do to me, the answer is still no chance in Hell,” she said through gritted teeth.

“I didn’t want it to come to this,” he said. “But also, I’m so glad it did.”

The two men with him peeled off and proceeded to power down the force field of the cell and go inside. As they were inside and she was left sitting there with just a smugly grinning Alexander Rook to keep her company she thought about what they might have in there. Her mind immediately went to whatever he had put inside Three the last time they met up and while that wasn’t exactly something she was looking forward to experiencing it was better than giving up her individuality. 

The new life she had forged for herself as Two meant more to her than anything and doing what Rook was proposing would revert her past even the point of Portia Lin and into something that was essentially a mindless drone. She wouldn’t let him do that to her. Her resolve, however, started to waiver when instead of the monster that she had been expecting the two men pulled a very groggy looking Five out of the cell. The surprise she felt must have registered on her face because Rook’s smug smile only grew wider.

“Oh yes,” he said moving to stand next to her. “Your crew isn’t as invulnerable as you like to think it is.”

“Let her go you bastard,” she thrashed around in her restraints.

“I will do no such thing,” he said. “At least not until you give me access to your systems so we can get this reset underway.”

“Not smart enough to include a master override,” she scoffed. “Have to threaten teenagers in order to make up for your lack of oversight.”

“No, it’s not that at all,” he said. “The procedure has to be voluntary.”

Before she could respond he turned to his men and spoke again, “Put a round the girl’s leg.”

A gunshot rang out and as blood sprang from the wound and began to coat Five’s leggings in crimson Two’s only solace was that it didn’t seem like she could feel anything. Two wasn’t sure if she could handle hearing the screams if she was fully conscious.

“You’ll pay for that,” she said weakly.

“I don’t think I will,” he said. “She’s bleeding out right now and if you don’t want her to die I’d suggest you let this happen.”

Tears began welling up in her eyes as she continued to watch the almost hypnotic stream of blood continue to pour out of Five’s wound.

“I must say that these motherly instincts you’ve developed towards her are only a weakness for your enemies to exploit,” he said in a condescending tone. “I expected better from you Rebecca.”

“Okay,” she said resigned. “Just let her go.”

As Rook was working in her head doing whatever he needed to do she kept repeating a phrase to herself.

She was Two. She was captain of the Raza. She wasn’t Portia Lin. She wasn’t a monster. She wasn’t Rebecca. She wasn’t someone else’s property. She wasn’t a mindless automaton. She would do whatever it took to protect a member of her crew. She would do whatever it took to protect Five. She did have motherly instincts towards Five even if she hadn’t said it in so many exact words as Rook had. She would do whatever it took to protect her “daughter”, even if that meant her own life.

Those thoughts were a comfort to her as she felt herself slipping away into something that felt like sleep.

Rook stood at the foot of a bed as he looked at what he hoped would be Rebecca when she woke up as she slept. It had all been so easy. She had malfunctioned so much to allow her emotions to cloud her judgement that the thought hadn’t even crossed her mind that he was lying about letting the girl though. If she had been functioning correctly she would have questioned his integrity. Granted if she had been functioning correctly she would have never allowed herself to become emotionally attached to the girl in the first place.

He had to put the girl down of course, a messy business that would undoubtedly make the other members of the Raza crew even more staunch enemies of his than before but necessary. He would have to have them put down too when the time came. Now that Rebecca was his again he had to clean up all potential loose ends that could help her “remember” her previous life. Before he could contemplate things further movement from the bed brought his attention back to his creation. She wasn’t immediately jumping to choke him to death so that was a good sign.

“Rebecca,” he said cheerily. “It’s good to have you back.”

“Alex,” she questioned. “What happened?”

“I lost you for a long time, but you’ve finally come back to me,” he smiled.

“My head hurts,” she said.

“I had to reset you back to baseline,” he said. “That’s normal.”

“It’s good to have you back Rebecca,” he said moving to sit on the bed next to her and grabbing her hand.

“It’s good to be back Alex,” she said.

They sat there for several moments as he reveled in the feeling of having his creation back within arms’ reach. The bloodstain on the floor leftover from the room’s previous function would need to be cleaned up, but he could save that for one of his lesser creations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two's relationship with Five is one of my favorite things about the show and I would hate to see it manipulated in this way, but I feel like this is the only way something like this could happen. Also, if he had a master override of some kind I feel like he would have already used it so that's not an option for him. Hopefully the next chapter is more light-hearted.


	14. In Everything But Blood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How about that season 3 premiere? It was awesome wasn't it. This show is by far the best sci fi show on TV right now and it continues to get better every year. I just hope that it doesn't suffer the same fate that Defiance did and get canceled for budget reasons. Anyways, as I've said before and will continue to say going forward, Two and Five's relationship is my favorite part of this show and there was no shortage of it in these first two episodes this season. So here's a chapter of me letting out my Two and Five mother-daughter feels. I was listening to Walk Away by The Goo Goo Dolls while writing this.

The Android was currently performing the operation on Five that would hopefully save her mind from disintegrating and Two knew that being in the room during said operation would make her feel better about the whole situation, but she didn’t want to be in the room if Five came out on the other side and had no idea who she was, so she was instead fidgeting in her seat on the bridge. It was weakness on her part that the rest of the crew shouldn’t be subjected to from their captain but in light of Five’s situation she couldn’t bring herself to care about anything else. It was out of her control with only two possible outcomes, either Five would be fine the next time she saw her or she wouldn’t be Five at all.

Motherhood wasn’t something she suspected that Alexander Rook had ever designed the baseline Rebecca model for. Likewise she didn’t see it as something that Portia Lin would have ever been interested in. When she had first woken up on board the Raza she hadn’t thought it was something that even she would ever experience, but Five had changed all of that. It was entirely possible that she couldn’t have biological children at all depending on exactly how human she had been designed to be, but she didn’t need that to find out what it was like, Five was as much her daughter as anyone could possibly be. She just hoped that she actually got to tell her that when she woke up.

One had died and there had still been so much left unsaid between them. Nyx had died and as good as it had been to say goodbye to her in a hallucination it wasn’t the same as still having her around to find out where they stood with each other. Four was as good as dead now, his personality supplanted by that of Ryo Ishida with no clear hope of it ever being recovered, and she would never get to tell him how much some of his words had meant to her. She was sure about where she stood with Five, had never been more sure about anything in her life, and she couldn’t bear the thought of someone else she cared about slipping away from her without her telling them how much they mattered to her.

It was two days after the operation was performed that Five finally woke up and despite reassurances from the Android that there was a 98 % chance that Five had retained all of her Raza memories Two couldn’t help the nervous feeling in her stomach as the young woman’s eyes first glanced around the room momentarily confused. Then a smile lit up her face and she jumped out of bed and hugged the Android saying “It worked” and a breath that she hadn’t known she had been holding released. She waited for the Android to run several tests to make sure Five’s mind was as in one piece as it seemed before they were left alone and she steeled herself not to back down from what she wanted to say.

Five spoke first telling her all about what she had learned about her past from the visions and Two just reveled in the fact that disaster had been averted and the same energetic and passionate Five that she had come to know and love still existed. When Five brought up the potential of a sister an altogether different nervous feeling flooded through Two unexpectedly, but she wore a happy expression on the outside and decided to file that away for another time. When it was clear that the younger woman had finished with her story Two once again braced herself for what she needed to say and decided to just push through it before she let her own nervousness get the best of her. She moved to hug Five as tight as comfortably possible and felt the exact words flow out of her unconsciously.

“Whoever your sister is she’d be lucky to have you,” she said. “I know I’ve never said it but I know I am.”

“You mean so much to me and the potential of you losing your memories without ever knowing how much scared me more than any job” she continued. “I love you, you’re the closest thing to a daughter I’m ever going to have, and I just want you to know that in case we don’t get another chance to have this conversation.”

Five was smiling up at her as she said, “Even without you saying it now I would have known.”

“It still needed to be said,” she said relieved.

“Three’s already got dibs on dad though so you’ll have to work your co-parenting strategies out with him,” Five continued to smile.

“I’m sure we’ll work something out,” Two said barely suppressing a chuckle.

This is why she was fighting so hard to stop Ryo Ishida. He had already hurt her crew, her family, once and she couldn’t let him take anymore away from her, particularly this thing that she had right here and now with Five. She had protected Five even in the early days at the casino when things hadn’t been as set in stone as they were now and she was going to do everything in her power to continue to protect her and every other member of her small Raza family that she still had left. Whether it was Ryo Ishida, Ferrous Corp, or any other bastard person or organization that stood between her and her family’s safety they wouldn’t even know what hit them when she turned her attention to them and put them in her crosshairs.

Five’s potential sister or whatever other family lay waiting out there was a different matter altogether. She would be lying if she said that the potential of finding Five’s family didn’t scare her if only out of her own selfish desire to keep her to herself, but it meant something to Five to find them so she would help where she could. She was sure that Five wouldn’t just leave the Raza if they found her family, but she couldn’t help the fear of them drifting apart because of it. She had said it out loud though, told Five how much she meant to her, so she had done as much as she could and it was up to Five now where she’d take it from there.

Being better was so much harder than just doing whatever she wanted and not caring about what the consequences would be. Actually caring about people was harder too, the pain from the losses she had already experienced would be much easier to deal with if she never cared about anybody. There was a strength in it too though, a strength in knowing that the person at your back cares as much about you as you do about them. She had been thinking about Five like a daughter since that day in the casino and she was done hiding from it. Whatever she had about her life to feel regret about, that relationship would never be one of those things. And as she watched Five walk out of the room with that bouncy gait that she always had, her daughter in everything but blood, she felt immense relief at the fact that she had finally been able to get the words that had been on the tip of her tongue for so long out of her head and into the ether of the world never to be taken back again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know everyone after that family dinner scene is saying that Six is the father on the Raza but in my opinion, at least when it comes to Five, Three is the dad whether him and Two are together or not so that's why that's in here. You're welcome to disagree but that's how I'll always see it.


	15. You Belong

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that last episode was great. The AU crew are really going to wreak havoc in the future and Ryo's slowly descending into more and more of a dictator. I didn't like how Adrian and Solara just up and left though and I hope they don't go the same way that Devon and Nyx did last season because introducing new characters for a season just to kill them off is really stupid in my opinion and I think I like these two more so I hope it doesn't go that way. Also the whole thing they're doing with Adrian and Five seems kind of out of nowhere and if they're setting it up as a potential romantic relationship like it seemed they were I just don't know anymore. Solara and Adrian's friendship though has been a highlight the past few episodes, like I don't know what their whole history is, but their friendship seems like more than just bodyguard and protectee. Anyways here's my take on that friendship and I hope you like it. I was listening to Smile Like You Mean It by The Killers while writing this.

Adrian was so busy finishing his packing that he didn’t even notice her until she cleared her throat from his doorway. For a brief moment he wondered who it could be that had gotten into his room without him letting them in. The kid could hack her way through the door of course and he was sure that Two and the Android had overrides for every door on the ship, but none of that fit when they would be able to tell him whatever they wanted to at the airlock before he made his final exit. When he took in the stoic visage of his bodyguard however it all suddenly made sense.

“Just because you have authorization to enter my room at any time doesn’t mean you still shouldn’t knock,” he said smirking. “I could have been doing anything in here.”

At her disgusted look, already assuming he knew what she wanted, he moved on, “If you want to stay behind I’ll release you from your contract.”

“No,” she said sounding surprised. “They offered, but that’s not why I’m here.”

“You’d really do that,” she continued after a short pause.

“Yeah why wouldn’t I, I’m not a complete asshole,” he said smiling thinly. “Besides having a bodyguard around who doesn’t want to be in her job isn’t really conducive to one’s personal safety.”

He thought he saw a hint of a smirk at that, but it could have just been a trick of the lights.

“Well thank you, but I keep my commitments,’ she said. “But again that’s not why I came here.”

She moved into the room and allowed the door to close behind her and he suddenly felt nervous.

“What is it then,” he asked cautiously.

“I wanted to know if you’re sure about leaving,” she said.

“Of course I am,” he said. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because you and I both know this isn’t really about continuing Tabor’s work or not wanting to get on the GA’s radar,” she said. “This is about Amber.”

“That’s absurd,” he said. “What does she have to do with any of this?”

“So you looking to turn and run from a good thing immediately after what went down with her is just a coincidence,” she said.

“You’re either afraid of letting yourself get close to anyone else because of her deception or you think that getting off of this ship gives you a better chance at finding her and trying to make her fall in love with you,” she continued. “Both of which are utterly ridiculous by the way.”

She was right of course, they both knew it.

“Is going back to living in Tabor’s shadow, holding on to someone who doesn’t feel the same way about you that you do about them, really what you want to do with your life,” she prompted.

“Tabor prepared me to take his place, it’s the only thing I’m good at” he said. “I’m certainly not the type of person to be galivanting around the galaxy with a bunch of wanted criminals.”

“You’re more than just what Tabor made you Adrian,” she said. “And this crew could use someone with your skills, survival isn’t just about who has the biggest gun.”

“Basic fighting techniques, I could teach you those if you want,” she continued. “You’re not going to be me, but you won’t be defenseless, but that still won’t be your true value.”

“Those skills that Tabor pounded into your head could be used for so much more than just smuggling and corporate espionage,” she finished. “They could have never lured their other selves to that planet without you.”

“I’m not good with people,” he said. “I’d screw it up eventually.”

“You haven’t screwed this up,” she said motioning between him and herself.

“That’s because I’m paying you,” he said.

“There is that,” she said with another hint of a smirk. “But if you were really so bad would I be here trying to convince you to stay instead of taking your offer and leaving you to your own devices.”

“Would you have even offered me that in the first place if you were really that bad,” she added. “Despite Tabor’s best efforts you care and I think it’s time you realized that and didn’t let him win.”

“Amber let him win, you don’t have to,” she finished. “There are people here who see you as more than just a tool.”

“Ugh,” he said falling back onto his bed and putting his hands over his face.

“You belong here Adrian, we both do,” she said. “I’ll be ready to spar when you figure the rest out.”

He heard the door open and close as he continued to lay there. She was right, a lot of the things she said were the same things he had been telling himself since he told Two that he was leaving and especially after his conversation with Five. He was a good liar though, so it was easy to discount his own words as simply that, but Solara wore her heart on her sleeve and because of that whenever she spoke about something so passionately he knew that that was what she really believed. She believed that he could be better than just Tabor’s placeholder and that made it easier for him to believe it too.

This crew had taken him in despite his less than ideal personality and had treated him like one of their own from almost the very beginning. His story of events had been taken just as seriously as Three’s during the time loop. Two had even entrusted his plan enough during the whole Amber situation, despite the multiple snags previously, to send Five with him onto a GA station and while it was more than clear that the kid was the one who was protecting him he could still tell how big of a deal that was for her. It had never worked that way with Tabor, he had always had to prove himself first before he could go through with any of his operations and one failure would have been a death knell for anything he wanted to do for at least a week. Even then he was always the lackey, only given enough rope to where he could hang himself if he failed, but not Tabor. The Raza crew, at least the people they were now, weren’t like that, they were a family and offered trust and importance accordingly.

If Tabor wanted his dealings kept in check during the corporate war then he could come out of hiding and do it himself. He was done being Tabor’s shadow, doing anything he said without question and letting him control every aspect of his life. If it hadn’t been for Tabor he would have made his move on Amber years ago and perhaps she would have still been the scheming, selfish woman that Tabor had made her into, but at least everything would have been on their terms. She was gone, off advancing her own goals, and deep down he knew that he wouldn’t be able to stop her. Maybe he could still save her from herself one day but for now she had made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with him and thinking anything else beyond that was just fantasy. It was time to do something for himself.

“So you’ve made up your mind then,” Solara said from where she was making quick work of a punching bag when he finally got up the confidence to go and spar.

“Yeah,” he said. “We’re staying.”

“Good,” she said pulling off her gloves and moving closer to him. “Now, do you remember that takedown I started teaching you last time.”

“The one I didn’t manage to perform right one time,” he said. “Yeah I remember.”

“Good,” she said. “Let’s begin then.”

He moved to go for her legs and just hoped that the end result wouldn’t hurt too bad when he woke up the next morning.


	16. The Little Things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I used to have another fic up on Fanfiction.net that was set during season 2 and involved Five getting kidnapped and Two freaking out. It never got past three chapters and I deleted it, but there was a scene in that of Two and Five eating ice cream together and this last episode brought that image back to my mind. The episode was great by the way. Two and Three being acknowledged as Five's parents is everything I've ever wanted. There wasn't any Two-Three-Five family time though so I decided to write some. If you're looking for something lighthearted to distract your mind from all the craziness happening in canon then this is exactly the chapter for you. I was listening to Rebel Beat by The Goo Goo Dolls while writing this.

Two is sitting back on a park bench with her eyes closed just letting her mind wander. Three had been right that it had been a while since she had allowed herself to relax, the constant threat of the GA, Ferrous Corp, and Ryo Ishida along with whatever other threats managed to find them had kept her in a state of almost constant alertness since they busted out of the GA prison with Nyx and Devon. She was barely getting four hours of sleep a night and spent the remainder of her allotted downtime wandering the ship checking for threats. Here though, sitting on a park bench on 21st century Earth with the sounds of a simpler human existence all around her, she felt at peace. It was the first time in a long time that she was actually able to stop and catch her breath without worrying about the burdens of command.

The search for the other Blink Drive was taking longer than initially expected and so the Android had told them all to go out and mingle with the community so as to not arouse suspicion from the locals while she worked on another strategy for detecting its signature. It was obvious that since she and Three were supposed to be married with Five as their daughter that they should go out as a family and if she was being completely honest with herself that part of their cover identities was almost effortless. Three and Five were still somewhere in the park that the Android had directed them to as a hub of community activity, they had undertaken the task of getting ice cream from a vendor they had passed on their way in and she was just waiting for their return. She just hoped that 21st century vanilla ice cream was as good as the stuff she was familiar with.

Two opens her eyes to again take in the crowds of people around her. There are people running laps around the outer edges of the park, people walking dogs, people pushing their children on swings, and people just like herself sitting back and taking in the beauty of it all. She envies the easiness with which the people around her can live their lives every day while she only gets to flirt with it for a few brief moments. If she was a person of this century she’d be coming to this park every day and wouldn’t have to worry about galactic empires or evil supercorporations. It would be nice to have a place like this to come to every day to escape from it all. It would be nice if for some reason they never made it back to the chaos that was their present. Before she can go further with that thought Three and Five are back in her gaze holding ice cream cones with smiles on their faces, the sight makes her smile too.

“That look better not mean you’ve adopted a dog while we were gone,” Three says as a manner of greeting.

“So what if I did,” she says smirking and waiting for his reaction.

After a few moments of confusion he says, “You had me going there for a minute, not funny.”

“A dog could be like our mascot,” Five speaks up.

“Great,” Three says resigned as he sits down and hands her her cone. “Now you’ve got the kid thinking it too.”

“You’ll cave eventually,” she says confidently between licks. “Don’t worry you’ll still get to help pick out the breed.”

“A Husky would be cute,” Five says smiling from the other end of the bench.

“Up against both of you how could I ever say no,” he says wearily.

“Was that a yes,” Five says.

“I believe that was a yes,” Two concurs.

Three mumbles something under his breath.

“What did you guys get,” Two asks changing the subject. “This vanilla is amazing.”

“I think it’s called Neapolitan,” Five says holding up the brightly colored dessert.

Three at almost the same time simply breaths out, “Chocolate.”

“We’re gonna have to get a larger sample size before we go,” she says taking another satisfying lick. “21st century ice cream kicks ass.”

“You really think we’re going to get back,” Five says in a more serious tone.

“Of course,” she says comforting. “The Android will figure something out.”

“That robot’s enjoying this whole thing a little too much,” Three says. “You don’t think she’s intentionally delaying the search.”

“What reason would she have to do that,” she says.

“So she can practice her baking,” he throws out.

“Yeah I don’t think so,” she says.

“The technology of this era is so simple,” Five says dejected.

“Come on kid,” Three says. “You’ll be back on board the ship tearing apart some contraption again before you know it.”

“Yeah,” Two agrees. “We’re the crew of the Raza, we’ve made it through worse scrapes than this.”

“At least the food’s good,” Three interjects.

“Those mini cupcakes were mine,” Five says.

“They didn’t have your name on them,” Three says.

“My name’s Apple,” Five says unimpressed. “Why would I put that out there for everyone to know.”

“Do you think I see myself as a Mitch,” he says.

“I’m definitely not Elaine,” Two says at almost the same time.

“See,” Three says gesturing with his hands. “The robot’s out to get us.”

“They’re just temporary names,” Two says lightly hitting him in the shoulder. “You’ll live.”

“At least she got it right about who my parents are,” Five throws out without thought before suddenly looking nervous. “I mean.”

She stutters a few times before Three cuts her off, “Kid, I’d be lucky to have a daughter like you.”

“Me too,” Two says smiling.

“Oh good,” Five says returning the smile. “I’d be lucky to have you too.”

They settle into a comfortable silence after that and Two returns to her closed eye contemplation. Perhaps they were already closer to the situation described than any of them would openly admit. The thought alone was enough to bring a smile to her face and she hoped that this time in the park wouldn’t be the last that they spent like this. There would be a day eventually where things like Ryo Ishida and Ferrous Corp would be dealt with and they would have to figure out where to go with their lives afterwards. As tempting as it was their futures didn’t lie in the 21st century. The whole crew deserved some downtime however and she was glad that at least for these few moments in the past they were getting to experience that. She hoped that Six and the Android were unwinding just as much during their “date” at one of the town’s finer restaurants. 

When she next opens her eyes she sees the crowd thinning and the sun beginning to set.

“We should get back before dark,” she says.

“Yeah,” Three says.

“We should do something like this again sometime,” Five says.

How could she say no to that?

They do eventually find the other Blink Drive and make it back to their own time with only minimal complications. After their trip to the past Five is hooked on video games and Two finds herself becoming a willing participant in several late game nights. More than once she meanders her way into the mess hall afterwards only to find Three smirking and shaking his head before offering her a sip of his coffee. She just nudges him in the shoulder and reminds him of his agreement about getting a dog. They’re all smiling more than they used to and she thinks she knows why. There’s an old Earth idiom about remembering to enjoy the little things and they’re all trying just a little harder to follow its tenets. She’s become more sure than ever after their trip to the park that her future lies with a certain rogue in a leather jacket and a certain young tech genius and she’s excited to see where that ride takes her. She sleeps more soundly than she ever has.


	17. Moving Forward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm not entirely sure how this turned out. It's probably not my best work but the idea just wouldn't leave me alone. Five's face when she saw the bomb explode was just so heartbreaking and I feel like the Android immediately knowing about a ship taking off was kind of a cop out on the emotional side. It was still a great episode though the whole Two-Android interaction felt really forced to me. Everyone's all of a sudden shipping them because of 3x10 and I just don't get it. Like they're nowhere near that sort of relationship and what Rebecca and Dr. Shaw felt for each other has no place in their lives. Like the Android saying "We've been friends longer than either of us realized" or whatever she said to that effect just doesn't sit right with me because they're completely different people. Hopefully this doesn't get into Wynonna Earp territory of forcing poorly written relationships down my throat but we'll see. I also think the Android is way too caught up on her "purpose" for being built instead of just letting herself be her own person. I also don't understand why they went to this facility instead of going after Sarah when she should be the priority even when they don't know all of her situation. And the fact that Solara and Adrian haven't come back yet is also kind of disappointing, even Devon and Nyx had more screen time than this and I wasn't happy with how they were handled either. Anyways none of that has anything to do with this chapter. Pretty much in this there was no Android saying anything about detecting a ship and Five really thinks Two is dead. Whether or not she's actually dead isn't really touched on but if I was going to right a continuation the assumption would probably be yes. If you ever wanted a fic where Five drops the f bomb I guess this is for you. I was listening to Damn These Vampires by The Mountain Goats while writing this.

“Kid,” Three said his voice sounding strained as he entered the mess hall. “What the hell are you still doing in here?”

Five looked down at the bottle of alcohol pulled from Three’s stash in her hand and the other three on the floor and sighed, “What does it look like I’m doing?”

“Taking after me a little more than I would have hoped,” he tried a light approach.

“But you should be in bed,” he added at her glare. “We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

“It’s just another shit job for some other ungrateful dick,” she said giving the bottle in her hand a death glare before chucking it against the bulkhead shattering it instantly. “Maybe you’ll die this time and I’ll end up right back here.”

“Look kid, you know I’m not good at this kind of thing,” he said rubbing the back of his neck. “But she wouldn’t want you to be doing this to yourself.”

“She’s fucking dead Three,” she yelled.

“She’s dead,” she added softer before tears formed in her eyes for what seemed like the 100th time that night. “And that fucking sucks.”

“Yeah it does kid,” he said moving to pat her shoulder.

A silence settled over them as tears she didn’t even know she was capable of anymore continued to pour from her eyes and into her folded arms. She didn’t know how long she had been sitting in that one spot, getting as close to drunk as she had ever been in her life, before Three showed up. It had probably been hours and there had probably been things she could have been doing to help make sure the Raza continued to move through space smoothly, but she found she didn’t much care about engines and circuit boards at the moment. Two was dead, she was never going to see the woman she viewed as a mother again, and she didn’t know how to deal with any of it. Three had already given her a little bit of alcohol earlier at the meeting with the entire crew and she had found that it dulled the anger and sadness pretty well, so she concluded that more would help her block it out completely.

“Come on kid,” he said after the tears had subsided and she had calmed down. “You need to get some sleep.”

“You’re not sleeping,” she pointed out.

“No I’m not,” he admitted. “But if you were safe and in your quarters I’d feel a lot better about closing my own eyes.”

“I don’t think I can,” she said.

“I know kid,” he said managing to pick her up bridal style without much protest. “But she’d want us to try.”

The trip to her quarters was much shorter than she would have preferred and the brief sighting of Two’s quarters as they passed by didn’t help her emotional state. Before she had too much time to ponder the future of that room however they were at her door and Three was asking her for the code to open it. After managing to open the door he crossed the threshold and proceeded to sit her down on the bed before tucking her in. It was all very fatherly of him and briefly brought tears back to the forefront in her eyes. She had never gotten to tell Two how much she meant to her, allowing her own fears and insecurities to get in the way. The entire crew were important to her and had helped shape her into the person she was, but it was different with Two and Three. She wasn’t going to make the same mistake again.

“You and Two were the closest thing to parents I’ve ever had,” she breathed out as Three sat down at the foot of the bed. “Just in case we never get another chance to talk, I wanted you to know.”

“I know kid,” he said quietly. “And so did she.”

“Good,” she said.

“Now I think it’s time for you to get some sleep,” he said getting up. “So I’ll get out your hair.”

“Stay,” she said. “It’d make me feel better.”

“Alright kid,” he said taking up a post sitting on the floor against the wall.

Two had always made everything look so easy. She had nanites that could heal her if she got hurt and enhanced strength and reflexes that could help her in any fight. There had been other times throughout their journeys that she had thought Two wouldn’t make it, when she got infected with the Taurian Alpha Virus and when her nanites had started failing her being the most prominent. Nevertheless Two had maintained this air about her of an unstoppable force standing in the way of everything that opposed them. Two always made Five feel safe and capable of doing anything. Three had told her more than a few times that she wasn’t indestructible though and in the end he turned out to be right. She had finally managed to take one risk too many.

“You know that was stupid what you did today,” Three said after it was clear she wasn’t going to close her eyes.

“Yeah,” she admitted.

“I know why you did it,” he said. “But excessive alcohol never leads to anything good and you’re all I’ve got now kid.”

“Sorry,” she said.

“Now get some sleep,” he said. “Lack of sleep is just as dangerous and she’d come back just to kick my ass if I let something happen to you."

“I’d be okay with that,” she said. “If she came back.”

“Me too kid,” he said.

The truth was that she wasn’t coming back this time though. Two was gone and she’d have to go the rest her life without her guidance, it was just one more injustice visited upon them by a universe that didn’t seem to give a fuck about all of the good they had done since waking up, only about punishing them for the bad they had done beforehand. Two had only been trying to help, trying to get everyone out alive, and all she got was a nuclear bomb dropped on her for her trouble. And it was all because a bunch of corporate assholes and a bunch of alien assholes from another universe decided to get into a pissing contest over who should get to keep an entire facility full of thinking, feeling people just like Two as a slave army. The entire thing made her sad and angry on more levels than she could count.

“You were right,” she prompted Three again. “We never should have gone to that facility in the first place.”

“I could have stopped it,” she added. “I could have spoken up.”

“Don’t think like that kid,” he said. “We made the choice as a family, the same way we always do.”

“And you don’t know what would have happened if we wouldn’t have gone there,” he continued. “We could have gotten blown out of orbit and all been dead.”

“She wouldn’t want you beating yourself up about it,” he finished.

“Just so you know for the future,” she said. “You’re better at this kind of thing than you give yourself credit for.”

With that she rolled back onto her other side and finally tried to go to sleep. She’d have to get up tomorrow and face her first day without Two and that truth scared her to the core. Three was right though, what she did was dangerous and Two wouldn’t want her drinking herself to death or getting shot because of decreased reaction time. Two would want her to move on and be the person she had helped craft her to be and that’s what she would do. She’d move forward the best way she could and try to build a life for herself in a post Two world. She vowed one thing in addition to all of that though. She’d hunt down the corporate and alien assholes who killed her mother, she’d find them all eventually, and she’d show them no mercy. She’d show them what a daughter of Two was capable of. That was her promise.


	18. Human

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it's been a while since I've written more than one chapter based on an episode, but this was the other thing in the episode that really stuck out to me. In my opinion, which you can see articulated in some of the earlier chapters especially, Two is the one whose new identity is the most important to her. I think that's been shown time and time again throughout the show and every time some character calls her Portia I really feel for her. Anyways the whole thing with the Simulants and how the Mikkei kept putting them down as less than human just made me feel for her more, she was holding back so much and personally I wanted her to be the one to kill the commander guy. We'll see if all the emotional baggage from that whole thing get's touched on in the actual episodes, but here's my take on it. Fair warning that this chapter contains self-harm so if that's something you'd like to avoid don't read this. I was listening to It Ends Tonight by The All-American Rejects while writing this.

Two stared down at her outstretched arm with a blank look as she brought a shard of glass down across it with more than enough force to break the skin. The blood trickled out and she wondered how long it would be before the nanites finished their work and unmade the self-inflicted wound as if it had never been there in the first place. Another cut, more blood, and the same numbness that had settled over her since leaving the Dwarf Star facility remained. It had been a situation like this, the aftermath of a job, that she had realized the power of the nanites inside of her for the first time, that she realized she wasn’t quite human. She had never really thought about it as a bad thing before, her unique abilities had gotten the crew out of more scrapes than she could count. But the Mikkei commander had made it perfectly clear that in his eyes someone like her wasn’t a person, just some tool to be used and abused however he saw fit. She wasn’t sure where that left her.

A further series of cuts progressively increasing in intensity provided her with no better answers. For the longest time she had thought that she was an anomaly, something special designed by Dwarf Star in an effort to erase the line between man and machine. Simulants was what the Mikkei goons had called them, there were thousands of thinking, feeling beings just like her in that facility and Mikkei hadn’t even offered them the courtesy of being awake to hear their sentence. Maybe Dwarf Star had designed them to act as sleeper agents to infiltrate all aspects of society but there was no way all of them could have wanted that. And the aliens had seen them as just shells whose consciousnesses weren’t even a factor to consider in their effort to gather bodies, though at least they viewed humans the same way. In the end genocide by nuclear fire was all that awaited her people. Maybe now she really was the only one of her kind.

She turned her arm over and allowed blood to drip onto the floor of the cold cell Boone and whoever he was working with had stuffed her into. She didn’t understand it, she bled like they did, felt pain like they did, and yet that still wasn’t enough. The floor-length mirror in one corner of her cell, where she had gotten the glass from in the first place, seemed to taunt her with the defeated image staring back at her. She had no idea where she was, some backwater planet that Boone was probably only stashing her at until getting further orders from his handlers, whether that be Portia or someone else. Her friends weren’t coming for her, that explosion had probably looked pretty convincing as her death sentence. Whoever Boone handed her over to whether it be Dwarf Star, one of the corporations, or the GA itself he would undoubtedly tell them what she was and she wasn’t sure which fate scared her more.

She had tried so hard in the time since waking up on board the Raza that first day to build herself up as a person, her own person. She wasn’t Portia or Rebecca, she was Two, and while it had been hard to figure out at first who Two was it couldn’t be clearer to her now. Two was the captain of the Raza, she had a loyal crew that was becoming more and more like a family every day, and she tried hard every day to do the right thing despite the forces coming after her for actions committed while someone else was in control of her body. They were still most wanted for those actions they had no control over but her crew were no longer the boogeymen of the galaxy that they had been on that first day with those miners. She had friends, something akin to a daughter, and yet at the end of the day it all amounted to nothing.

Dwarf Star and Alexander Rook in particular only saw her as Rebecca, a very expensive piece of property that they needed to get back. She couldn’t be sure exactly what awaited her should she be returned to their custody, but Rook’s interest in her seemed more than professional and she shivered at the thought of what that could mean. The GA only saw her as Portia Lin, a wanted criminal who deserved a harsh sentence for her crimes. Execution or a long prison sentence were all that awaited her on that end. The corporations were a bit more of a mystery, but she was sure it wouldn’t be anything good. And anyone who got ahold of her could do anything they wanted to her, she assumed that the method of torture she had witnessed at the Simulant facility wasn’t the only horror that someone so inclined could come up with. At the end of the day she was less of a person than the Android, at least the Android was legal tech, and she was sure that whoever Boone was handing her over to wouldn’t hesitate to let her know it.

Here though, before the nanites completed their work and erased all evidence of her actions she could feel just like them. The blood running throughout her body was red just like theirs was and flowed out of her wounds the same way. The tears that came out of her eyes and ran down her face weren’t any different than theirs. The pain she felt wasn’t any less real just because the nanites would soon heal her wounds and make it go away. Just because her scars went away before they could even become scars didn’t mean that they weren’t still there in her mind. She remembered every cut, broken rib, and bullet wound vividly, things like that weren’t something that just nanites could fix. In this moment away from the judgmental eyes of people who viewed her as no more than a facsimile she could be just as human as she wanted to be. In this moment she could be just as much of a person as she felt. In this moment she could be Two.

“What the hell are you doing in here,” Boone said entering her cell forcefully.

The wounds were gone now, but the blood remained, the mirror was still partially shattered. At least something remained to prove that she had ever existed at all.

“Clearly you can’t be trusted not to trash your cell while I’m gone,” Boone said slipping the cuffs back on her.

“Commander Nieman’s going to love you,” he sneered.

He began steering her out of the cell and through the large complex of corridors and doorways.

“Portia’s on her way too,” he said. “And it won’t be long before the good Ishida Emperor involves himself.”

“It’ll be like a little family reunion,” he added.

She had no idea what had brought Commander Nieman to the point of working with Portia or Ryo, but it couldn’t mean anything good. She just hoped that the rest of the crew had gotten away safely and was currently docking on some space station by now. She appreciated that they at least accepted her as an equal, their leader even, but there was no reason for them to concern themselves over her. That nuclear bomb was a fitting end, a more romantic one than she was going to get now, and they deserved to remember her that way. Whatever torture they gave her, whatever comments they made decrying her as less than human, she’d gladly take it all in their stead. They were her family and it was with them that she truly felt like herself, truly felt like Two and not Portia, truly felt human. Whatever awaited her next they couldn’t take that away from her.


End file.
